Determination of the cloud fraction in the SCIAMACHY ground scene using MERIS spectral measurements

Abstract

SCIAMACHY (SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CartograpHY) is a passive remote sensing spectrometer observing backscattered radiation from the atmosphere and the Earth's surface, in the wavelength range between 240 and 2380 nm. The instrument is onboard ENVironmental SATellite (ENVISAT) which was launched on 1 March 2002. The Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) is also one of the 10 instruments onboard the ENVISAT satellite. MERIS is a 68.5° field-of-view nadir-pointing imaging spectrometer which measures the solar radiation reflected by the Earth in 15 spectral bands (visible and near-infrared). It obtains a global coverage of the Earth in three days. Its main objective is to measure sea colour and quantify ocean chlorophyll content and sediment, thus providing information on the ocean carbon cycle and thermal regime. It is also used to derive the cloud top height, aerosol and cloud optical thickness, and water vapour column. The ground spatial resolution of the instrument is 260 m × 290 m. This paper is aimed at determining the cloud fraction in SCIAMACHY pixels (typically, 30 km × 60 km ground scenes) using MERIS observations and number of thresholds for MERIS top-of-atmosphere reflectances and their ratios. Thresholds utilize the fact that clouds are bright white objects having similar reflectances in the blue and red. The MERIS cloud fraction has been derived for a number of SCIAMACHY states with area of 916 km × 400 km. The results are compared with correspondent cloud fractions obtained using SCIAMACHY polarization measurement devices (PMDs). Large differences are found between cloud fractions derived using SCIAMACHY and MERIS measurements. It is recommended to use highly spatially resolved MERIS observations instead of SCIAMACHY PMD measurements to retrieve cloud fractions in SCIAMACHY pixels. The improvements advised will enhance SCIAMACHY trace gas and cloud retrievals in the presence of broken cloud fields.